


I can hear your heart beating in your chest

by nelly06061



Category: Florence + the Machine
Genre: Disability, F/F, Fluff, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 07:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18220337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nelly06061/pseuds/nelly06061
Summary: Florence is taking you to meet the band for the first time, but as revelations are made to them and to each other, will you both make it through?





	I can hear your heart beating in your chest

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: i do not own florence or the band or anything here   
> Maybe I will add more chapters to this.... let me know in comments or my tumblr is @nelderberryxx  
> Dedicated to Florence’s Sluts Coven, i miss you all so much and hope you enjoy this! <3

You rose early, nerves controlling you, but feeling Florence’s arms around you you calmed instantly and stayed in bed, snuggling up to her. You were still shocked that you had Florence in your life, for more than a month now too. In the dim light of the rising sun you watched her as she slept, her beauty still mesmerising you, and you silently thanked any Gods there may be for giving you this wonderful opportunity, and beautiful girlfriend. Her long, wavy hair trailed over her shoulders, and her fringe was sticking out in all directions as she breathed softly. The features on her face seemed at peace, and always graceful, even as she slept.   
Despite only being in the early stages of your relationship, Florence had insisted you come on the upcoming tour. She was a very intense being, in the sense that no emotion she felt was moderate. She made you feel so loved and cared for, and gave you all her patience, always. Her voice and way with words could ignite any emotion in you she wanted, and you felt happier in yourself at the person she was helping you be. You were growing in confidence, believing in yourself more, and allowing yourself the chance to love and be loved. It was always a waterfall of emotion with Florence, never a stream in the background. It bound you too her and you couldn’t imagine living without it now.   
Yes, in a way it was all or nothing and it scared slightly. The prospect was certainly daunting, and now you had the word tour to think about too. You were worried what all her band mates would think of you, never mind the fact you had never even left Europe before, let alone to go on a world tour.

~~~~~~~~~~~  
You had been lying in bed after a passionate and beautiful night, naked, with Florence holding you calmly inside her arms, legs wrapped around each other. You couldn’t be closer if you tried.  
You were touching her softly, enjoying every moment with her, still learning new things about her every day. What you could already tell however, was that although she appeared calm and still on the outside, inside her head there was always a million thoughts whirring. You wanted to describe it as a storm, but this would give it negative connotations, and you only meant it in the intensity of what she felt.  
‘We’ve got a world tour in a couple of months,’ Florence had begun, breaking the silence. She moved back from you just slightly as she spoke so she could look at you, and see your reaction. ‘And I wondered if you wanted to come.’ She had smiled, hopefully.  
It had definitely shocked you, but then again, this was Florence, so maybe it shouldn’t have. You had been vaguely aware of the tour, but if you had ever thought about it you assumed that you would wait for her at home, looking after her plants if she had asked, keeping her life in order for when she returned.  
But now she had offered, you had to accept. There would be things to discuss, such as your job and house, but the overriding feeling of excitement for the chance to get to know her so much better meant you needed no convincing. So she had phoned her manager immediately and asked for it to be arranged.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Today was the first band rehearsal for the tour. Florence had asked you along, so you could meet all the band before you were suddenly thrown into a bus with them for the next few months of your life. You had panicked about what to wear, hadn’t eaten breakfast, and bounced your leg with nerves as you rode to the studio in the cab with Florence. Gently, she placed her hand on your knee and stilled your leg.  
‘You have nothing to worry about. They’re all lovely, and you’re even lovelier.’ She murmured to you, wrapping her other arm around you and holding you close again. Her voice was soothing, but the voice in the back of your head was stronger.  
You started to shake your head, still anxious, but she persisted.  
‘No. I promise this will be fine.’ The way she spoke wasn’t forceful at all, just caring and patient. It felt as if she was giving everything she could to you, all the power of her words and thoughts, all the time.  
You sighed and nodded, conceding to her. She was rarely wrong, and she did know them quite well after all. You didn’t know how she did it, but there was a quality about her that felt as if she was harnessing the power of the wind and the rain, of all the deities, and sharing their wisdom as she spoke, and even moved. She was ethereal and full of light, and you felt so lucky to have her in your life.  
Thinking about her, you managed to distract yourself until you arrived. Florence seemed excited yet peaceful, and she held her hand out for you to take as you walked in to the building together.  
‘They know I’m bringing someone else, but they don’t know who you are.’ Florence mentioned to you as she held the door open for you, and you couldn’t help but feel it was a bit late to mention it.  
You glanced at her in slight panic, a million different scenarios you hadn’t planned for beginning to play out in your mind.  
The sound of music and laughter began to drift through and you saw a smile creep onto Florence’s face; she had enjoyed the break, but there was something special about playing music live with people she loved. She squeezed your hand encouragingly as you both rounded the corner into the room.  
Everyone stopped their conversations and turned to look round at who had walked in, all beaming when they saw Florence, and all then changing to a slightly confused yet still warm and friendly look when they noticed you next.  
‘Flo!’ Isabella exclaimed, jumping up and running over to hug Florence. Isa was clad in jeans and plain t shirt, but her unruly hair and grungy eye makeup made her face stand out to you. You let go of Florence’s hand as she hugged Isa back, greeting her, but she returned to your side quickly.  
‘This is y/n,’ Florence explained to everyone, smiling at you knowingly as she did so, ‘my girlfriend.’  
The second she said that the atmosphere in the room immediately changed. Change didn’t have to be a bad thing, but there was no denying that there was a change. No one gasped out loud, but their reaction was equivalent to that, and you pinned this on three facts. One, was that you were about 10 years younger than Florence, and you looked it. It was one of the only issues you couldn’t get over and the two of you disagreed on. You obviously wanted to be with Florence, but you were almost self-conscious of the age gap and scared people would judge you, or think you just a gold digger. Sometimes around her you felt young and immature, but she told you with a giggle that wasn’t the age, just that she had a naturally old, or even ancient, soul. The second was that she had not told anyone about you yet, wanting to keep this a private thing. She didn’t want the press or anyone else for that matter to ‘taint’ your relationship before it had even really begun, so she had told no one at all, only perhaps mentioned in a passing comment that she had made a new friend to the odd person. The third, and perhaps the biggest, was that Florence had never come out as bisexual to anyone except Isa before. It wasn’t that she was scared, just that she hadn’t ever felt the need to, and that was absolutely fine. It just meant that now it was all even more of a shock.  
No one showed any signs of thinking this, but it was clear to you that they were. You didn’t know what you feared so much now you were finally confronted with them all, as if anything they became even more open to you.  
Whilst most of the band were focusing on you, you noticed Isa was focusing on Florence, scanning her face, presumably to make sure she was okay. Isa knew Florence and romance with her was a very temperamental thing, as if she were a puppet being controlled by a drunk master, swinging her backwards and forwards, and toying with her emotions. But Isa found no concerns in Florence’s features, so satisfied, she finally turned to you.  
She grinned at you and stepped towards you, before engulfing you in a hug. ‘It’s lovely to meet you.’ She said as she stepped away, a smile still present on her face.  
You smiled back shyly, before looking down at your feet. You had felt no judgement yet, but you were ready for the blow that was to come. The blow that always came.  
‘y/n is mute.’ Florence said softly, taking your hand again, supporting you as much as she could.  
You looked shyly up and around for changes in the atmosphere, trying to find the one person there always was who immediately judged you as disabled, dumb, and socially awkward. But to your surprise, no one did. You smiled awkwardly, as there were some looks of pity, but you didn’t tend to blame people for that. There were worse things in the world, and yes, some days you longed to be able to speak and laugh along with everyone else. But other people’s pity was not what you needed.  
Isa looked surprised more than anything else, but more for Florence than of you. She was such a physical, vocal person, always filling her life with noise and music. But to Florence, you were perfect. You could talk to her by typing on your phone, and your sense of humour and sarcasm still always came through strongly, and you were able to articulate your feelings in such a way it was almost more powerful to see them written down than hear them.   
You were teaching Florence BSL, but it was complicated as sentences were formed very differently to English and romantic languages. You didn’t mind that she couldn’t understand you yet, in fact you were over the moon about the fact she even wanted to learn BSL. However, Florence felt so guilty and as if she was failing you every day she woke up and wasn’t immediately fluent.   
As no one responded to Florence for a while, you began to panic. This was not a new situation to you at all, far from it. But what was new was the pressure for these people to like you and get on with you. The pressure of being someone’s girlfriend.  
Eventually you couldn’t bare it any more and grabbed your phone out your pocket, quickly typing a note and handing it to Florence. She understood immediately and read it out.   
‘It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you and can’t wait to hear you play.’ Florence read out and you blushed slightly, regretting your words already.   
‘Well we haven’t heard anything about you. But i’m sure Flo can fill us in.’ Tom said, with a smirk at Florence, who just rolled her eyes at him.   
‘Well she’s a better cook than all of you put together are. And she’s just got her PhD in Classics.’ Florence said, almost boasting on your behalf and you blushed again.   
‘Wow.’ Tom was impressed by that at least. ‘You’ll have to tell us more later. I’m dying to get on for now.’ He said, noticing your slight discomfort. You already appreciated his subtle support and knew you would get on well.   
There was a flurry of movement everyone picked up their respective instruments and waited for Florence, but she had turned to you and spoke quietly so only you could hear her.   
‘You okay?’ she asked, hugging you close.   
You nodded quickly, and she could see the relief in your eyes. There was one thing you had noticed however and you typed it on your phone for her to read.   
‘They call you Flo.’ you showed her, concerned she didn’t really like Florence but had never had the heart to tell you.   
She chuckled, relieved herself that that was the only worry you had. ‘I don’t mind either way. Call me what you want.’ she reassured you, before kissing you on the cheek. ‘Enjoy the show’ she whispered, before turning and hopping up to take her place in the middle of the band.   
It had not been long since the last tour, so within only a few practices Florence was beginning to run around, moving her body to the music in a way that entranced you. She was beautiful, and undeniably sexy. You were envious of the way she could use her body to express her feelings, whilst also managing to turn you on. She looked over and winked at you as she twirled around, before falling out of sync with the band and having to try again.   
When they decided to take a break, Florence bound over to you.   
‘How are you doing?’ she asked, her first concern always you. But she had a smile on her face that she couldn’t shake off, and it was impossible not to share her ecstatic joy and love of the music.   
‘Good’ you signed to her, knowing she would understand, but there was something else you needed to say. ‘You’re so hot’ you typed for her, and she grinned mischievously.   
‘Do you remember what I was wearing last night? Because i’m wearing that under this dress’ Florence whispered seductively, just to wind you up even more.  
Of course you remembered last night, she had some very expensive black lingerie on, and you hadn’t been able to keep your hands off her.   
You slapped her jokingly, scowling for effect.   
‘Awwww, I know you don’t hate me’ she giggled, and stepped closer to you.   
‘No. I love you’ you signed to her. It wasn’t something you had taught her, but it didn’t take a genius to work out what it meant. You said it without really thinking, but then straight away realised what you had done. You looked at her in shock at yourself, scared of her reaction.   
At first, she didn’t react. She had fallen hard and fast before, and she didn’t want to repeat that with you. But she was. It was in her nature and she couldn’t help it. So when you said I love you, yes, she was scared. But only of herself fucking it up with her untameable emotions.   
‘Flo, what do you think of adding Sky Full Of Song to the setlist?’ someone called out, breaking your intense moment. It sounded as if it came from miles away and you and Florence had been on your own world, where nothing mattered or even existed except the both of you.   
‘Yeah.’ she called out distantly, but she was not really registering it, still completely focused on you.   
As the moment grew longer again, everyone was watching now, not sure what was happening, but being able to tell something was up. You were stood close, your faces barely inches apart, staring into each other’s eyes, yours beginning to fill with tears however.  
‘I love you too.’ she eventually replied, her voice surprisingly strong and confident; she was making herself a lion hearted girl.   
You beamed and let your tears fall with relief, releasing a breath you didn’t realise you had been holding in.   
You both naturally leaned forwards and closed the gap between you, kissing and not caring about anyone else. Well, maybe you did care, you had just floated off again and they weren’t even there. You were brought back to earth with a wolf whistle, but before you could jump away and blush, Florence just kissed you deeper, holding onto you with one hand and flipping off whoever had whistled with the other.  
You smiled into the kiss, the happiest you had been in a very long time.


End file.
